15 Best Jobs for 13 Year Olds That Pay: A Guide for Parents

At 13, a formal store or restaurant job is usually still a year or two away. But earning money is not. Plenty of gigs are open to a motivated 13-year-old right now, and the rules are simpler than most families expect.

Your 13-year-old wants their own money, and the question has landed on you. Here is the good news: there are real jobs for 13 year olds, and our Family Money guides are a great place to start. This guide is written for parents, because earning at this age works best as a team effort, with you as coach and back office: helping with rides, safety, online accounts, and getting paid. Most stores will not hire until 14 or older, so the trick is knowing which gigs a 13-year-old can legally do and which ones actually pay. This guide walks through 15 beginner-friendly options, what each one earns, and how to help your teen land a first customer.

Can a 13-Year-Old Legally Get a Job?

Yes, but with limits. Under federal law, a 13-year-old cannot be hired for most regular jobs until age 14, which is why big retailers and fast-food chains rarely hire younger teens. A wide range of self-directed gigs are fair game at any age in the meantime.

In my experience talking with families about this stage, the confusion is rarely about the law itself. It is about knowing which gigs skip the age rule entirely.

The FLSA (Fair Labor Standards Act) is the federal law that sets 14 as the minimum age for most non-farm jobs, along with a short list of exceptions.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, several kinds of work fall outside those age limits at any age, including babysitting, newspaper delivery, and jobs for a business a parent fully owns.

Here is how the federal rules break down by age, plus the exceptions that let younger teens work at any age:

Two caveats sit inside that last row. Agriculture runs on its own, looser rules, where children as young as 12 or 13 can sometimes work with a parent’s consent. And state law can override all of this: some states set a higher minimum age, limit hours more tightly, or require a work permit (an employment certificate showing a minor is cleared to work). When state and federal rules differ, the stricter one wins, so check your state labor department before anything formal.

What Your Teen Needs Before Starting

It takes far less than most families expect. In my experience, most beginner gigs run on effort, not equipment.

• A short list of what your teen is good at. Comfortable with dogs? Patient with little kids? Handy in a yard? Start there.
• A way to get paid. Cash works, but a parent-linked debit or payment app makes it cleaner and easier to track. A few kid-focused options worth comparing here are Greenlight and Acorns Early, which pair a kids’ debit card with allowance, chore, and savings tools a parent controls.
• A simple way to be found. A neighborhood app post, a flyer, or word of mouth through family friends is plenty for the first few customers.
• A parent’s sign-off. For safety, scheduling, and any account that requires an adult.

Best Jobs and Gigs for 13-Year-Olds

Here are 15 realistic options, grouped by where the work happens. Every one on this list can be started from zero, with no audience, big budget, or special training required. That is the bar for whether a gig belongs here. When I researched what actually pays a beginner this age, that was the bar that mattered most.

Around the Neighborhood

These are the classic starter gigs, and for good reason. They pay in cash, build fast, and rely on trust from people who already know your family.

• Babysitting or mother’s helper. Your teen watches younger kids, or helps a parent who stays in the home. A free local babysitting-safety course makes a young sitter an easier hire.
• Pet sitting and dog walking. Feeding, walking, and checking on pets while owners are at work or away. Repeat customers are common.
• Lawn mowing and yard work. Mowing, raking, weeding, and hauling. One reliable neighbor often turns into three.
• Car washing and detailing. Washing cars in driveways on weekends. Low startup cost, steady demand in warm months.
• Snow shoveling and leaf raking. Seasonal but in high demand exactly when adults do not want to be outside.
• Newspaper or flyer delivery. Allowed at any age under federal rules, and still available in some towns and for local businesses.
• Errands and tech help for neighbors. Carrying groceries, watering plants, or helping an older neighbor set up a phone or tablet.
• Helping with a move. Carrying light boxes, helping pack, or setting up before a family friend’s moving day. A few hours of work usually means a flat, agreed-on rate.

Skill and Online Gigs

If a screen is more your teen’s speed, a few options work well and are realistic income for a beginner. These usually need a parent’s help to set up an account.

• Tutoring younger kids. Is your teen strong in math or reading? An hour after school with an elementary student is an easy first booking. This is one of the better job opportunities for 13 year olds because it pays for a skill, not just time.
• Selling handmade crafts. Bracelets, art, baked goods, or stickers, sold locally or through a parent-run online shop.
• Reselling and flipping. Clean up and resell items your family no longer needs, or thrift finds, with a parent handling the listing account.
• Small freelance tasks. Basic data entry, transcribing short audio clips, or organizing digital files, done through a parent’s account on a freelance platform.

Around the House and Seasonal

Money can start at home before it starts in the neighborhood. These count too.

• Paid chores beyond the basics. Bigger jobs like washing the car, cleaning the garage, or organizing a closet, agreed on ahead of time. A clear chore chart for kids keeps expectations fair.
• Helping in a family business. If a parent owns the business, a young teen can pitch in on non-hazardous tasks like filing, packing, or the front counter.
• Holiday and event help. Gift wrapping, party setup, or handing out flyers for a local event during busy seasons.

One tool that cuts across many of these is Nextdoor, the free neighborhood app where families regularly post for babysitters, dog walkers, and yard help. A parent can set up the account and note that their teen is available, then field replies together and pick the nearby jobs that feel safe.

How Much Can a 13-Year-Old Make?

Enough to matter, though not enough to quit homework. In my experience, pay depends on the gig, your area, and how reliable your teen is. For context, national babysitting rates tracked by Care.com average close to $20 an hour, and here is a realistic snapshot of common gigs.

One note before the numbers: some of these gigs are easiest to start locally, not through an app. Lawn mowing, car washing, and snow shoveling usually fill up fastest with a flyer, a Facebook Marketplace post, or a knock on a few neighbors’ doors with a parent along. Others, like babysitting, pet care, and tutoring, can also run through a platform, shown in the Popular choice column.

This is also the simplest answer to how to make money at 13: two small, steady gigs stacked together beat chasing one big payday.

What Mistakes Should Families Avoid?

A few early missteps can stall the whole thing. In my research on early money habits, reliability comes up again and again as the one thing that separates a one-time job from a repeat customer.

• Skipping safety. Your teen should never go alone to a stranger’s home. A parent should know the who, where, and when of every gig.
• Being unreliable. Showing up late or canceling last-minute is how a teen loses the neighbor who would have referred them to five others.
• Underpricing or overpricing. Check what is normal locally, then have your teen land in the middle to start.
• Ignoring the rules. For anything that looks like formal employment, check your state’s age and work-permit rules first.
• Spending it all. Money that vanishes the day it arrives teaches nothing. Help your teen split it before it is gone.

What Should Your Teen Do With the Money Next?

Earning is only half the win. In my experience, the other half is deciding where it goes before it disappears, and that is what actually builds the habit.

• Split every payment. A simple save-spend-give split, even 50/30/20, builds a habit that outlasts any single gig.
• Open a savings spot. A parent-linked account or kids’ debit card keeps the money visible and out of a sock drawer. Options worth comparing are Chase First Banking and Capital One MONEY Teen Checking, both parent-managed accounts with built-in savings goals and no monthly fee.
• Think about long-term growth. Once a teen has earned income, a parent can open a custodial Roth IRA (a retirement account a parent manages for a minor, funded with after-tax money that can grow tax-free), where even small amounts have decades to grow.
• Keep leveling up. As your teen gets older, more doors open. See best side hustles for the next stage, or how to make money as a kid for younger siblings.

Bottom Line

A 13-year-old does not have to wait for a formal job to start earning. The fastest path is a self-directed gig that needs almost no money to start, like pet sitting, yard work, tutoring, or babysitting, built on trust from people who already know the family. Keep the legal side simple by sticking to any-age work and checking your state’s rules before anything formal. Help your teen line up one or two steady gigs, show up reliably, and price fairly, and the money often follows. Then split each payment so some of it is saved, not just spent. In my experience, that first paid gig teaches skills that pay off long after the lawn is mowed.

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